The Cavalry
by lilgizzy1983
Summary: What if the Undertaking earthquake had ended much differently for Felicity in the Foundry. Buried under the rubble, would her friends find her in time? This was a brain worm I had to get out in between chapters of my other stories. One Shot.


"The damage seems to be contained…on the east side…past 12th street." Felicity choked out, voice thick with tears, fear and grief. She said it knowing exactly where Oliver's focus needed to be. The damage Verdant was sustaining at the time wasn't as severe as the area CNRI was in. Plus, it was Felicity's decision to stay in the Glades to help. She wasn't about to let some falling cement and sparks scare her into taking help, when she knew Laurel was in terrible danger. She listened as Oliver hopped on his bike, then muted her comms so that he wouldn't be distracted by the growing abundance of background noise in the Foundry.

Felicity knew that Diggle had been hurt, and that he would probably have too much trouble getting back to the lair with the earthquake and the injury. She texted him to make sure he got medical treatment, just in case he couldn't make it back. Digg texted her back that he was only half a mile away from the hospital, and that he'd try to get in and out before they got swamped. He didn't want to be a burden during the crisis. Throwing her phone on the desk and putting her head in her hands, Felicity tried to hold herself together while she heard everything the was going on over the comms. Deciding that staying in the lair would probably be safer than trying to leave, all she could do was sit and listen. She listened to everything she could until she heard Tommy close to dying. She was crying and didn't want to intrude on the moment, so she turned her comm off completely and just sat. She stared at her computer, which had now been damaged and had a black screen. It was only then that she noticed that the rumbling beneath her feet hadn't stopped, in fact, if she wasn't mistaken it was getting worse.

Suddenly starting to worry more about her own safety, Felicity spun her chair around to access the rest of the damages. She had heard the debris falling in the background, but had been too distracted to fully take in the damages. Large chucks of the ceiling had cracked and fallen onto the training mats. The walls also had a number of large cracks.

"This can't be good." She said to none one as she immediately reconsidered staying in the lair. Almost too quickly for her to process, the rumbling got louder and became deafening. Sparks flew everywhere and most of the lights flickered out, leaving only a soft glow from a random light in a locked case in the med bay area. Her short scream was cut off when a large part of the ceiling caved in over her desk, knocking her to the floor harshly. A sharp pain flared up her right leg and in her head. When she lifted her hand up to her forehead she felt the wetness of blood. Blinking away the pain for a few seconds, she tried to stand. She needed to get out of there, it was clearly way worse than she had anticipated. It seems the earthquake machine got stronger the longer it was on, and a larger part of the Glades would be effected. She couldn't help but hope Diggle was safe at the hospital, and that it would be undamaged.

As she rambled in her own internal monologue, she shook her self out of her thoughts. Her head spun at the action and it felt like her brain was sloshing around in her skull. 'Shit, concussion.' She thought.

"Focus Felicity." She spoke out loud to herself. Her voice sounding frail and weak. She hated that she sounded like that. Losing her train of thought again, she looked up toward the exit. It was far, but manageable. The rubble around her passable. She just hoped her leg wasn't injured too badly.

Moving to stand, she screamed at the attempt of pressure on her leg. She couldn't really see, but she was assuming it was broken or bloody…or both. Touching it softly, she felt the familiar wet feeling again, and also a large block of cement.

"Damn it." Felicity mumbled to herself, as she tried to wriggle herself free without using her leg too much. It took a while, she doesn't know how long, but more of the building had come down around her in the meantime. She wished at that moment that she hadn't thrown phone and comms on the desk, which was now thoroughly destroyed behind her.

With a strangled scream through the dust, Felicity managed to stand. She put most of the pressure on her left leg and with her hands out, tried to steadily move her way through the rubble to the basement steps. If she couldn't get up the steps in her condition, then perhaps the stairwell would give extra protection. Either that or it would be the first thing to cave in.

'Damn I wish I was better at architecture'. She thought to herself. Computer engineering and physics sure, but when it came to buildings, unless she was looking at blueprints she was useless. She had no idea where the support beams where in a building this old.

By the time she was able to reach the wall near the stairwell, the shaking had gotten to it's apex. She couldn't even think over the noise of the falling debris and the noise of her own heartbeat pounding in her ears. The pain in her head and leg throbbed along with every beat. She was definitely much dizzier now that she had put forth so much physical excursion. Grabbing at the wall, she followed it to the stairs, slowly but surely. When she reached them, they were swaying, probably having separated from the wall. No way was she going to make it up them during the quake. Felicity was at a loss. She felt trapped, and terrified that she would be left, buried underneath the club with no one to find her. As if fate had heard her thoughts, the wall behind her cracked under the strain, raining pieces of rubble onto her. She tried to cover her already swimming head, but her reaction time had slowed significantly, and a few pieces struck her.

Her dizziness increased exponentially, as the pain in her head turned from terrible to unbearable. Swaying hard, and unable to keep her footing, she fell back against the now broken wall and collapsed to the ground.

The rest of the rubble from the wall continued to topple onto her. At one point, she thinks that she registered a sharp pain in her shoulder, but her head was too fuzzy. She could barely breathe from all of the heavy dust, and was now choking hard. As her vision started to turn to white spots, she couldn't help but think that this was it. She would be buried alive in the Foundry. The place where she felt the most safe. No one here to rescue her, or to console her. Never having told her friends how she felt about them. How they were her family. More of a family than she ever felt she had. That she had felt like she was at home with them.

It was pitch black now, the last bit of light having burnt out a few minutes ago. Just before she passed out, she registered a harsh ringing sound.

'Is that…is that my phone?' She thought to herself, unable to speak. She remembered thinking, by some miracle, that maybe her phone had survived the destruction of the desk. The ringing stopped, and she smiled slightly as it started ringing again. They were looking for her. She could make it. She had a chance. If they could find her quick enough, then maybe she wasn't too far gone after all. That's the last think she thought before she passed out.

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After Tommy died in his arms, Oliver was inconsolable. He dodged out of the CNRI building and away from the site. His makeup somewhat smeared off by his uncharacteristic tears. He needed to be alone. He was ashamed of himself, of what he had become. Tommy was right, he was nothing more than a murderer. On top of that, his last words to his friend were a lie. He finally reached the QC tower, and climbed to the top. He could do nothing but watch the Glades crumble in on itself. Through tears, he kept his eyes fixed on the CNRI building. He could barely see it from there, but he knew where it was. Even in the dark, no power to that area of the city. He would always know where he watched his friend die. After what felt like an eternity of staring into space, he heard Diggle's ringtone on his phone. He ignored it at first, but then when Digg called a second time, he figured it might be important. After all, the damage was more extensive then they thought, and Diggle had been hurt.

"Diggle, you make it through alright?" he said in a monotonous tone.

"Yeah man, I'm at the hospital, people are pouring in, but I got here early and I'm all patched up. I was going to go back to the Foundry, but I don't think I can walk there right now, and there's no way a car is getting through." Diggle hinted.

"You need me to check on Felicity." Oliver sighed, realizing at some point after the CNRI incident that Felicity had turned off the comms. He had been grateful for the time alone.

"Yeah, I called her a couple times, but she didn't answer, and she didn't ignore the call. That's not like her, I'm just concerned and wanna make sure she got out of there alright. She saved half the city man, but she couldn't save the other half. She probably shouldn't be alone." Diggle reasoned, knowing that Felicity would likely blame herself for not realizing there was a second machine.

Oliver glanced up at the familiar skyline to where Verdant stood. Or….

"Digg…" Oliver said before his words caught in his throat. It couldn't be.

"What is it Oliver? What happened!?" Diggle grew more concerned when Oliver didn't answer immediately.

"Digg, it…I'm …it's not there?" Oliver couldn't process what was happening fast enough. Before he knew what was happening his legs were carrying him as fast as they could toward his bike, hood up.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN IN IT'S NOT THERE? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Diggle was shouting trying to get a clear answer from Oliver. His worry increasing by the second.

"OLIVER!" Diggle yelled one more time.

"Digg, I'm on my way over. I was on the QC roof, when I looked over toward the club…it wasn't there." Oliver spat out, already hopping onto his bike and speeding away. He was breathing heavily already.

"I'll get there somehow, don't wait for me, just get her OUT!" Diggle said, trying to figure out how he was going to get there in one piece and quickly.

Oliver wasn't going to be happy at Diggle's solution, but there wasn't much time to think about Oliver's feelings right now. His best friend was buried under a building, possibly dying. He needed to get to her, no matter what.

Diggle dialed quickly on his phone, they had had to wait for the quake to die down before they got any type of reception back. The rumbling had almost completely dissipated at this point.

As the phone rang all he said out loud to himself "Here goes nothing."

"Hello? Who is this…" Detective Lance answered, not in the mood to play games. Laurel was crying in his arms and they sat in his squad car on the street as people scattered around them frantically looking for their loved ones.

"Detective Lance, this is John Diggle…a mutual friend of ours is in trouble, I need your help."

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Oliver pulled up to what used to be Verdant not 10 minutes later. It took longer than he would have liked, but he had to do a lot of dodging. There were buildings, cars and people scattered everywhere. As he stared up at the damage, he couldn't move for almost a full minute. The entire building was a pile of rubble. Only one part of a wall was still standing on the far end, everything else was caved in, or had cracked beyond repair. He couldn't see it from QC because the sign had fallen to the sidewalk and smashed into a thousand pieces. In a flash, he suddenly kicked into gear, crawling carefully over the chunks of metal and concrete towards where the back entrance would be. None of it was structurally sound, and he noticed that in a couple of places, the floor had already given way. He especially noticed that one of the areas that was particularly badly damaged was the floor near the basement stairwell.

When he reached the door to the lair, it was blocked with several large pieces of concrete. He started throwing to the side what he could, and slowly pushing away the larger pieces. One piece was so heavy, he had to get a broken metal rod to use as a lever to move it away from the door. When he was able to get it opened about 12 inches, he tried to slide through, realizing it was pitch black down there. He couldn't see the steps, or feel them, so it seemed that they might have fallen. He didn't hear anything coming from the basement. It was eerily silent.

"Felicity"…he said quietly under his breath. "FELICITY!" Oliver yelled when he finally found his voice. Receiving no answer, he whipped out his cell phone. Still at the top of the steps, he called her, hoping that he wouldn't hear her phone ring. That maybe she was in the city and had lost it, or that it was too loud for her to hear it ring. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. He heard her phone's ringtone she had set for him ringing from somewhere in the rubble of the lair.

"God dammit! FELICITY!?" He yelled again, he had given up on the phone. How was he going to get down to her? He pulled up a different number on his cell.

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"Faster! Out of the way!" Diggle yelled out the window of Detective Lance's squad car at people who were aimlessly wandering the streets. He figured if they were going to get anywhere in a car, they needed sirens and lights. Lance and Laurel had picked him up from the hospital ten minutes after he called telling Lance that Felicity might be in trouble. Lance knew he owed the IT tech, and he knew how hard she had worked to try and protect the city. She didn't deserve to die because of it.

"_Where to?" Lance asked Diggle as he hopped into the back seat of the squad car._

_Diggle looked at Laurel, who still had light tears in her eyes, then back at Lance. _

"_Dammit Mr. Diggle, WHERE IS SHE!?" Lance yelled, not at all caring about the identity of the Arrow right now. Also not putting together that Diggle and Felicity worked for the same person._

"_Club Verdant." Diggle stated quickly, knowing he had just given up the biggest secret he had, at his friend's expense. But, it would be worth it if they got Felicity out safe._

_Lance and Laurel both whipped their heads toward him in shock._

"_Just GO!" Diggle yelled, snapping them back into rescue mode._

About 4 blocks from the club, Diggle's cell phone rang, it was Oliver.

"Oliver, we're almost there, did you find her? Is she ok?" Diggle said all in one breath.

"We? Whatever, nevermind, Digg this place is a mess, completely collapsed. I gained access to the basement door but the stairs are gone. I'll need light, and help getting down."

Diggle turned towards Lance, "You have flashlights?"

"I have a spotlight flashlight in the trunk, no problem."

"How about rope or anything like that?"

"No dice, I don't think I have anything like that."

"Dammit. Oliver you're sure she's down there?"

Lance and Laurel turned again at Diggle actually saying Oliver's name. It was certain, he was the Vigilante. Lance turned back to the road.

"I called her phone and it rang in the basement, Digg, I'm sure she didn't make it out. This place…it's really bad."

"Alright, we're pulling up, we'll find you."

"Who's we?" Oliver had an idea, and he didn't really care right now, but he was still nervous.

"Quentin and Laurel Lance."

"Right." Oliver hung up, focusing again on trying to get and answer from Felicity.

After calling her name for another couple of minutes, he heard a soft cough. He stopped yelling to see if it was just his imagination. A few seconds later he heard it again, I faint coughing from just where the bottom of the stair would be. She was alive, but she wasn't responding. His mind went into over drive.

"Felicity! CAN YOU HEAR ME!?" He heard a whimper, then another stronger cough. She was there, she could hear him.

_Felicity heard something, she didn't know what it was. Was it her phone again? She couldn't figure it out, her mind all muddled from her concussion and a distinct lack of oxygen. But she was breathing air. Where was the air coming from? Was there someone yelling? She thinks she hears yelling? She can't open her eyes, and she might be dreaming, but she definitely thinks she hears yelling. How long had she been out? So many questions were running sluggishly, like molasses, in her injured brain._

_Suddenly excited at the possibility of rescue, she involuntarily drew a sharp inhale of breath, causing her to cough weakly. Upon coughing, her throat and everything down to her lungs felt like a hundred needles pricking through sandpaper. She couldn't bring herself to take another breath for almost a full minute until the need for air grew to much. _

"Felicity! CAN YOU HEAR ME!?"

She heard that loud and clear! It was Oliver!

She took in a small breath to try and speak, but just whimpered as she coughed again. The pain was overwhelming her. She couldn't speak and could barely breath. What she could feel of her body hurt immensely. She didn't know if it was lucky, or unlucky that she seemed to have lost feeling in her right leg all together, for right now she'd go with she was thankful.

"Oliver." She managed a whisper, but he didn't hear her. She starts to wonder if anything even came out. She coughed again trying to clear her throat. "Oliver!" She said as loud as she could, which was barely her normal speaking volume. Luckily, he didn't seem too far away.

"Felicity! Hey! Yeah, it's me! Are you ok? Can you move?" He had so many questions, until he had a flashlight he wouldn't be able to see how she is, it was driving him crazy.

"Oliver, I…I can't…move." She gasped and sputtered a couple of coughs in between, but the fresh air from the open door seemed to be helping somewhat.

"Felicity, are you hurt?" Oliver knew she was hurt. He could clearly tell. He was just trying to get as much info as possible on her condition for when she needed to be moved. He was hoping it wasn't too bad and she was just trapped under some rubble.

She didn't answer for a minute. He was afraid he'd lost her again.

Felicity gulped in as much breath as she could, the movement made a sharp pain shoot through her left shoulder. 'Right, I remember something about that.'

She made a strangled noise akin to a sob, before letting a couple of tears fall from the newfound pain. When she glanced over to her shoulder, carefully not to move too much, she saw a piece of rebar from the concrete slightly imbedded into it.

"Ahh." She let out a quiet yelp of pain.

"Felicity!? What was that? Are you ok?" Oliver was growing more nervous and impatient by the second. Where were Diggle and Lance with a light? Or and ambulance. He didn't care who knew about his identity right now, he'd deal with the consequences later. Right now he just wanted to see Felicity' and reassure her.

"No. Ahh…I'm hurt…it's pretty bad…Oliver…help." Was all she could squeak out under the strain of her shoulder and head injuries.

"We're coming down to get you Felicity, just hold on ok? You can do this! I'm going to go get help, I'll be right back!" Oliver was sick of waiting, he started to let the door close but heard her cry louder than she had so far tonight.

"NO! Oliver! NO!" Felicity panicked. Not only did she not want him to leave her there in the dark by herself again, but she knew that if he closed the door, her clean air supply would be gone and she wouldn't be able to breathe like before.

"Felicity, it's ok, Diggle is right out front, I'm just going to lead them here so they can't help quicker." Oliver thought she was just afraid to be alone, not thinking about air quality.

"No." She coughed out again. "Oliv…Oliver…I…I can't breathe….when the door is closed…I can't breathe." She tried to speak as loudly and assertively as she could so he would hear her and understand the urgency. It hit him like a ton of bricks. She had been slowly choking on dust and plaster this whole time. The Foundry was enclosed, and without the air filtration it would be like a tomb.

"Alright, I get it, OK…Felicity, I'm not leaving ok? I'm right here."

She was quiet for a while, trying to let her panic subside. She just squeaked out a soft. "Thanks."

He almost chuckled. Of course he wouldn't let her choke to death down there.

"I'm not going to cut off your oxygen supply Felicity. I'm not trying to kill you, I'm trying to save you."

Felicity tried to smile at that, but she doesn't feel like it really happened. Although it didn't really, matter, no one was there to see it.

Diggle, Lance and Laurel were trudging over the debris of the club. Laurel limped along as fast as she could. She couldn't pick Felicity out of a line up if she tried, but her father had explained everything that had happened earlier in the night. Laurel didn't want to let another good person, who was just trying to help, succumb to list mindless tragedy. She didn't care who Felicity was, or who Oliver had become, they had tried to help. They, as a group, saved thousands of lives. One earthquake machine was bad enough, if two had gone off, The Glades would be underground for sure.

They finally heard Oliver talking, and were encouraged. Diggle was the first to speak up.

"Oliver! Did you find her!? Is she ok?!" He ran in Oliver's direction as fast as his injury would allow. He was pretty sure he ripped a couple of stitches, but he didn't care.

"Diggle!" Oliver waved him over, careful to keep the door wedged open.

"Diggle! She's awake, but she's hurt, we have to get down there! Do you have a light?"

Lance spoke up this time, "I've got a spotlight right here!" He turned it on and pointed it towards the door. Oliver thanked him and grabbed it out of his hand. Laurel just stared at Oliver in his hood outfit for a few seconds. She was having a hard time reconciling this Oliver, with the Ollie she knew years ago. Selflessly putting himself at risk to help someone else. After having just watched his best friend pass away, he was still fighting, still trying to help. She was in awe of him in that moment. He was so focused on his friend, that he didn't do more than glance and nod to her. Everything he had to say was in his eyes. She suddenly understood everything. He wasn't the same man. He wasn't HER Ollie anymore. He was his mission. His team. He was the savior of Starling City. He was bigger than himself. His team was a unit, they worked as one. One of them had fallen and the others would move mountains to save her.

Oliver shone the light into the small opening of the doorway, viewing some of the wreckage for the first time. Felicity's eyes burned at the brightness, but her mind savored it. It was like it was her light at the end of a long painful tunnel. All she had to do, was wait for her boys to come get her. She could hold on. She would hold on for Oliver. For the team. They would get through this and continue the mission, whatever that was now.

When Oliver shined the light at her face finally, she flinched and blinked her eyes shut at the brightness.

"Oh God." was all he could choke out at the sight. Her leg was bleeding, and turned at an awkward angle. It was buried under some large debris. Her head and face were covered in blood from what looked to be a sizeable head wound. And her left shoulder was pierced by a dirty piece of rebar from a concrete block that was partially on top of her. He couldn't tell if it went through or not, but from the amount of blood it didn't look like it, at least something was good.

"Oliver let me see, I'll try to assess her from here." Diggle took the light from Oliver and noted Oliver's sick look on his face. Diggle moved to the door and shined the light back down at her, causing her to flinch away again. Every time they put the light in her face, a mind-numbing, blinding pain shot straight through her skull.

"Ow, guys…stop with the light please? Head injury." Felicity weakly responded, sounding more like herself the longer the door was open and the more clean air she could breath.

"Sorry girl, I was just checking on you. How you holdin' up? Ready to get out of there or what?"

"I was born ready. Next lair is ABOVE ground please thank you." She squeaked out.

Diggle moved the light from her face and over her body, then around to the walls and stairs. It was going to be tough. He knew Oliver could get down, but with his arrow injury to the chest, he didn't know if he would be able to get Felicity back up.

"Oliver, man, it doesn't look like you'd be able to make that climb. Not with your shoulder." Diggle pointed out quietly. Oliver was thinking the same, but didn't want to admit it. He thought he could withstand anything if it got her out of there.

"I'll go, I'm the only guy here not hurt." Lance spoke up from behind them.

"It's pretty dicey down there Detective, are you sure you could manage to get her and you both out?" Oliver noted, knowing that the officer was strong, but didn't have the strength training Oliver and Diggle had.

"I'm not injured, I have the best chance. And if I can only get her out, then I can wait for a rescue team. She can't." Lance insisted, not having seen her but judging from the looks on her partners' faces.

"Dad…" Laurel spoke up, now suddenly worried about her father.

"Laurel, it's fine, if somebody's gonna be stuck down there, I'd rather it be me, uninjured, than her. She doesn't deserve this. Not after everything she's done for the city."

All in agreement that Lance has the best chance to get Felicity out of there and to the hospital, Lance and Diggle went over to look at the logistics and quickly form a safe route of passage. Oliver quickly stepped aside to change out of his Arrow suit into clothes Diggle brought him from Lance's car. Oliver wasn't thinking clearly right now so Diggle had to stay sharp and protect his friend. Laurel took the chance to sit on a piece of a beam that had fallen, her own injury not very severe, but painful after a lot of stress.

They heard some louder and more persistent coughing from downstairs.

"Ow. Hey…hey guys…eta?" Felicity said through hard breaths. She was fading, and needed to get out of there. Not to mention there was the concrete on her broken leg and the block leaning o her shoulder.

Diggle mentioned this to Lance.

"She's not going to be able to stay conscious much longer with that kind of stress on her body. We need to get her up fast before she passes out again. You won't be able to lift her as dead weight. We'll need her to help."

Lance agreed.

"How about I just get down there and get her free, then we'll figure it out from there. She shouldn't be left alone for longer than she has to be."

Diggle nodded as Oliver came back into the fold. As the two larger men lowered Lance down to the nearest piece of rubble, he searched out his path to Felicity with help from the spotlight in Laurel's hand. While up top, Oliver and Diggle worked at opening the door further and propping it so they could get better leverage to lift them out later.

Lance climbed over a piece of concrete and part of the fallen steps carefully. He'd be no good to her if he got injured as well. He made his way over to her fairly quickly, the debris being easier to navigate than anticipated.

We he reached her, he realized why she'd been having so much trouble breathing. The air was almost straight dust, with a small gust from the open door every so often. He didn't know how she'd stayed conscious this long.

Grabbing her hand, he carefully moved over to her face.

"Hey, getting yourself into trouble again I see?"

"Oh my god, Detective Lance…what…how…? You know what, I don't care, I'm glad to see you. Thanks for coming to the rescue. Ow." She yelped as she moved her shoulder the wrong way in her excitement.

"Hey, take it easy. You know, you're hurt pretty bad?"

"Yeah no kidding. No wonder you're a detective."

"OK, enough with the jokes. I just need you to breath steady while I try to get you out of this mess. We need you awake and not passed out to get you out. Can you do that for me, kid?"

"I'm gonna do my best, Detective."

"Alright."

He used the spotlight from above to get a good look at the concrete on her leg. He should be able to roll it off, but it would be painful.

"Hey, how does your leg feel…not too good I assume?" He said, trying to ascertain the damage.

"Well…the thing is…when I first got hit at my desk it was excruciating. I managed to get over to here. But then when the wall fell I passed out. When I woke up I couldn't really feel it anymore. I'm thinking this big thing cut off the circulation or something." She explained, biting her lip, NOT looking forward to moving, but knowing she'd have to tough it out.

"Alright, yeah, that's probably what's going on. This has to come off NOW before you develop crush syndrome, or before the muscle tissue dies. It's going to hurt like the Dickens. You ready for that?"

"I guess I'll have to be. I need a leg right?"

"Good girl. Grab something to hold onto. HEY GUYS, I'M GONNA MOVE THE BLOCK OFF HER LEG. SHE'S GONNA YELL. JUST A HEAD'S UP."

"Do what you gotta do Lance, be careful." Diggle yelled back down. Oliver bit his tongue and just tried not to let the anger at the situation overwhelm his rational thought.

Lance moved into position to roll the concrete. "On three."

Felicity nodded anxiously, wincing at the movement.

"One…..two….." on the third count he rolled the concrete off as quickly as humanly possible so that it was like ripping off a band aid.

The scream that emitted from Felicity at that point tore a hole through the hearts of everyone in the building. It was so raw and pure in agony that they had never heard anything like it.

Laurel almost dropped the light when she put her shaking hands to her mouth. Oliver thought fast and took it out of her hands before it fell.

As fast as Lance had moved the block, he was right back at Felicity's side, holding her hand tight. Her grip was so strong as she screamed a couple more times that he thought she was going to break his fingers. He just held her cheek with his other hand and gently shushed her comfortingly as she calmed down. Tears were streaming down her face as he wiped them tenderly. She started coughing again from the stress and dust that got kicked around from all the shuffling. Lance coached her through deep breaths to keep her conscious. He needed her to get through this so he could get her out. When her breathing evened out a couple of minutes later, he wiped the last of her tears.

"You ok? You back with me?" Lance asked quietly.

She just nodded. "Yeah…" She answered, voice thick with pain. It was terrible, more pain than she'd ever experienced, times a thousand, but she was breathing through it.

Thank goodness in holding her hand, Lance had thought to keep her from wriggling her shoulder wound. That would've made everything much worse.

"OK, good girl. You did great. You're through the worst of it. You've got a couple more hurdles. Are you ready?"

"Yeah…" She replied again weakly. She was afraid now, she wasn't sure how much more she could take in this air without passing out, and if she did she could die down there, or at least risk losing her leg.

"OK, this bar, I'm gonna have to remove it from your shoulder. The good thig is, it didn't go all the way through and it's not too incredibly deep. It probably hurts more in than it will out. But the actual removal is gonna suck. OK?"

"Do what you need to do. I 'm ready." Felicity grunted determinately through gritting teeth. Her face was red, and she looked like she was so angry, she could take on the Vigilante and win. She was bracing herself, she would make it through this or die trying.

"Wow…ok…you're a little scary when you're determined. Let's do this on…"

"No countdown, just do it. Go Lance."

He listened, and immediately braced her against his body and quickly and carefully pulled her away from the bar.

She didn't scream this time, she let out a sharp exhale and grunted, gritting her teeth and closing her eyes tight.

After a few seconds, Lance decided to remind her to breathe, as she had subconsciously stopped. She inhaled a short, quick breath and exhaled the same way a few times before she was able to take deeper breaths. Her lungs burned again, but the pain in her body was too intense to care. Breathing was a necessity. She had to do it to get out and get to safety. Her brain finally processed Lance's words.

"In…out…in….and out…come on kid."

She started listening and following his simple commands. He was relieved that she seemed to be hearing him again, and made a thumbs up motion to the three at the door.

"Great job Felicity. You did real good. We'll hang out here for a minute and let you get yourself ready to move alright?"

She just nodded in a fe short jerks, knowing she wouldn't be able to move quite yet. The pain was still too raw.

"Ol…Oliver?" She said so only Lance could hear.

"He's here, he's right upstairs ready to scoop you up and run to you the hospital if he has too."

"His shoulder…" She said again, trying to thinking of something else besides her own pain.

"I saw blood if that what you mean, I don't know what happened, but it kept him from coming down here himself."

"That means it's bad, he'd never…he's tough…" She tried to form a complete sentence, but was finding it quite difficult.

"Yeah, well, he'd have to be to be the Vigilante. I can't believe your rambley self was able to keep the a secret for so long. When did you three join up?" He knew what she was doing and was trying to keep her mind off of things for a bit.

"He…He and Diggle…first…when he came back…" She started, but paused to take a couple deep breaths, letting a couple of tears slip down her face.

"…Then me…when his mom…when she shot him…I found him…and helped. Well…he found me" AT that she let out a quiet scoff, which he'd assumed was supposed to be a chuckle.

"Well…I'll tell you he sure had us all fooled."

"Who else…who else is up there?"

"Laurel, she was with me when Mr. Diggle called for the cavalry. I guess he needed people to help you that you guys could trust. Luckily, he came to the right place. You're a good person Ms. Smoak, I'd never leave you down here. Not before today, and especially not after. You saved thousands of lives you know. You're a hero."

"You helped…" She let out a chuckle again. She was breathing more evenly now.

"Yeah yeah, I was just the muscle. You did all the work."

"Not enough…obviously…the second device…I didn't see it coming."

"None of us did, don't you put that on your shoulders. You saved half the city. Merlyn is to blame. Wherever he is. The bastard."

"He's dead."

"What?"

"Merlyn, he's dead. Oliver…"

"Oh…"

"That's how they got hurt. He hurt them. Oliver wanted to take him in…but he hurt them and Oliver…"

"OK, that's enough chitchat, I'll get the story over drinks some time. You don't wanna tire yourself out. You ready to scale this mountain or what?" He encouraged.

"Let go. I'll need help…like…a lot." She admitted and looked into his eyes.

"I got you, just lean on me and do what you can ok. Stay. Awake." He asserted.

She nodded and he braced her against him. He figured it would be easiest to stabilize her injured shoulder to his body, and keep weight off of her leg on the other side. As they slowly stood, Felicity decided he was right early when he said her shoulder would be better free of the rebar. That pain was manageable. As long as she didn't move her right leg much, she could make it. The climb up the rubble was painfully slow, and taxing. She thought the walk from her desk to the stairs was hard…she didn't know what hard was. There were many stumbles, and screams, and breaks scattered through. What took Lance 5 minutes by himself, took them 20 minutes together. But everyone was just glad she was able to do it and stay conscious.

When they finally reached the point where the boys upstairs would have to haul her up, Lance took her good and her waist and hoisted her up as best her could. Her good arm outstretched for Oliver's hand. Unfortunately, to avoid pulled her shoulder out of the socket, she'd need to use her bad arm as well.

"Felicity, I need both hands. I know it hurts, but I cat lift you by one hand. It'll hurt you even more."

"Oliver I can't. I…"

"Felicity, I don't believe that, not after everything I just watched you go through. This is it. This is the last part. You'll be up here. You won't have to move. I'll carry you the rest of the way. Wherever you need to go. I just need your other hand. Do it…DO it NOW Felicity!" He knew she'd respond if she was angry at him, just to show his she wasn't weak. She was stubborn like that.

"AHHHHH I HATE YOU!" She yelled as she lifted her injured arm and he grabbed her hand and pulled her up.

She screamed the entire time until he finally got her to the ground floor and placed her carefully on the floor, destabilizing her arm again with a piece of Laurel shirt that she had ripped off for him to use as a sling. As Diggle and Oliver pulled Lance up, Laurel sat with Felicity, wiping her tears and trying to soothe the woman in front of her that she feels like she knows already. She can't even remember if they'd ever even met, doesn't matter now. Everyone who survived tonight in the Glades owed their lives to her. Now as this small, strong woman lay crying and bleeding in her arms, Laurel wondered how much the group had already been through together, and how much they had ahead of them.

Once Lance was out, Oliver scrambled back over to Felicity, along with Diggle who was assessing her injuries. He found a metal bar so stabilize her broken leg, which looked to be a pretty clean break, if not damaged from the cement. She was going to need a lot of therapy for that one. Her arm was already good for travel with her make shift bandage from Laurel's shirt. He gave Oliver the ok, and Oliver gently took her up into his arms, trying not to aggravate her injuries to much. She merely winced slightly from the jostling and then settled into his chest.

"Thanks for the lift." She said, looking up at him with a weak smile on her face. He smiled back, thankful to finally have her in his arms and on her way to safety.

"Always Felicity." He answered simply, as he kissed the top of her forehead and she fell against his chest, passing out finally from exhaustion.


End file.
